Mascara
by TheForbiddenAppleOfTwilight
Summary: After years of not seeing each other, Bella and Jacob reconnect after Edward leaves Bella for the last and final time. Bella/Jacob
1. Chapter 1

Mascara smeared down her face, tears dropping onto her dress as she knelt in the middle of the street. She held her head in her hands. Her dress clung to the wet pavement the rain had left, but she had no care about it. She didn't care about anything anymore. There was nothing in her left to care about. The only one she ever loved, who had ever loved her, had moved on; left her.

Cars zoomed passed her, honking loudly, telling her to move, some even flipping her the bird. She wanted to move. She did. She wanted to go home and crawl into bed, cry herself to sleep, but her feet wouldn't cooperate. She was frozen with the fear of never having anyone anymore.

A light tap came on her shoulder. "Hey. Are you all right?" a man's voice asked. He sounded around her age. Maybe a little older. Mid twenties.

She didn't turn her head or answer the man, even though she desperately wanted to.

"Ma'm?" he asked once more.

The girl still couldn't answer, condemned with her reality. She would go to bed alone, wake up alone, have to face their friends alone. Forever alone.

"All right," the man sighed. He then did the unexpected, picking her up bridal style and carrying her to the sidewalk; to safety. That's when the girl stirred, frightened by what he might do to her, but he quickly whispered, "Sh, you are all right. I'm not going to hurt you. You're okay now."

She didn't fight after that. What would have been the point? She had nothing to live for any longer any way.

The strange man took her back to his small apartment, lying her on the bed. The girl looked around, slowly taking in her surroundings. She took notice of the black walls that surrounded her, giving the allusion that they went on forever, except the one white wall the bed leaned against. The walls were decorated in black-and-white photographs. Most were big cities lit up at night, their lights ablaze. A few caught her notice though. One of a young boy around the age of six or seven holding an old football in his hands, a big goofy grin split across his face. Another of a giant wolf, maybe ten feet tall, coming out of the forest. There was another that looked familiar to her. She squinted a little, at the black-and-white scene of the ocean, to see a small little house that looked a lot like an old friend's. She shook her head slightly at the thought. She hadn't seen him in years, not missing him once, but now that she thought about that small red home that had held her favorite mechanic and a man that she had considered her second father she realized she missed them desperately. Fresh tears pricked at her eyes, but she pushed them back, not wanting to deal with any more loss.

What was she doing here? She wondered to herself. Was she insane now? Letting a strange man take her back to his place.

She shook her head at herself as she started to sit up. She gripped the ends of her dress, holding onto it for support. She then stood, her long brown hair falling over her shoulders and into her eyes.

"Oh good. You're all right. You really had me worried, Bells," a husky voice said from behind her.

She spun around and saw the little boy she had just been about to cry over. Yet this wasn't exactly the same small boy she remembered. He was now all grown up. He was handsome, with black spiked hair that was wet with the rain, tan skin, the deepest brown eyes, and the same gorgeous white smile he had always dazzled her with.

She stared at him in utter shock until she finally realized he _was_ right in front of her. Jacob. "Jake," Bella whispered.

Tears filled her eyes once again, but this time they were tears of joy. She hadn't seen Jacob in over five years.

She went and practically jumped in his arms. He didn't mind though. He held her tightly, hanging onto her, telling her he missed her as much as she missed him.

"It's been a long time," he said, sadly.

"Too long," she corrected.

"You just disappeared," he told her after minutes of silence.

"I'm sorry. I'm so sorry," she cried into his shoulder.

"Will you tell me what happened? What made you leave?" he asked quietly.

Bella stiffened slightly, but knew he had every reason to be told what had made her leave him without even a goodbye.

"You won't like it," she admitted.

"I want to know."

She sighed and pushed out of his arms, wrapping hers around her torso. "Well, the night you had taken me home, and told me you loved me," she blushed, the memory over taking her.

*Seven Years Ago*

"Bella-"

"Jacob, I really should be getting inside now," she told him, glancing over her shoulder at a staring Charlie.

"I love you," he said, grabbing her hands. "I love you with all my heart."

The words stopped Bella cold. She looked up at him with big eyes. "You love me?"

"I love you so much, Isabella. More than you could possibly imagine."

Bella wasn't sure how she should take this news. Was Jacob serious, or if Bella told him she felt the same way, would the rest of the pack jump out and laugh?

With shaking hands, Bella leaned up on her tiptoes and kissed him.

"I love you too," she replied when they pulled away from each other.

With that she turned and quickly made her way into her home.

Bella bit her lip. "When I had gotten back inside, and Charlie said goodnight, Edward was waiting for me in my room."


	2. Chapter 2

Jacob tensed, not liking a word of what Bella had just said. "The _leech?"_

"Jacob-"

"No, forget it. Make yourself at home. Get some sleep."

"Jacob!" she exclaimed, on the verge of tears. "Will you just listen?"

"Where is he now?" he asked, shaking.

"He left me! He told me he couldn't keep living a lie! He left!"

Jacob's whole frame vibrated with fury. "You left me for the parasite that left you in the woods? You didn't give a single fuck about me did you?"

"Jacob," she sobbed, the tears she had been trying desperately to keep at bay spilled over, streaming down her face. "Please. . . You have no idea how much I've regretted the decision to leave you. I thought of you everyday. I've missed you Jake."

"I don't wanna hear your excuses Bella. You made your choice."

"Jacob, I was young! I was naive. I don't love him anymore. I was blinded by him. He acted like he cared so much for me. It was all a lie."

"I could have made you happy Bella. I could have healed you."

Bella didn't have a response. She had no idea what to say. He was right. He could have made her happy, she would have been loved and taken care of. Jacob would have been there to catch her before she fell, he would have nurtured her until she was ready to stand on her own two feet once again. He would have fit her perfectly.

"I'm sorry," was all she could mutter.

With that Jacob opened a closet full of towels, grabbed a big fluffy one out, and threw it to her. Bella fumbled to catch it, but succeeded in the long run. She gripped the towel close to her chest, carefully watching Jacob. He then threw open the door on the left hand side of the room, revealing a master bath. He leant against the wall. "Go ahead and get a shower then get some sleep. I'll be passed out on the sofa if you need me."

He then marched out of the room, leaving Bella a cold damp mess standing in the middle of the room clutching a towel.

After she had showered, she came to find a pair of boxers and one of Jacob's old shirts laying on the bed, waiting for her to grab. She shut the door to Jake's room, dropping the towel to the floor. She picked up the shirt and felt how soft it was against her skin, her mind skimming through memories of Jake and she when they were young and relatively happy.

She smiled slightly as she remembered Jake's laughter filling up the cab of her old rusted Chevy, the way his eyes sparkled in the moonlight as he held her close at one of the many bonfires, how his dimples showed when he blushed with a nervous chuckle.

Bella threw the shirt over her head, pulling it down over her body. She then grabbed the pair of boxers, stepping into them. Jacob's smell wafted around her, enveloping her in him. A mixture of musk, dirt, sweat, and rain all combined to make an intoxicating scent that drove Bella crazy. She closed her eyes allowing everything to sink in.

Bella took a deep breath as she went to the door, cracking it open slightly. She wanted to apologize to Jake once more in hopes of him somewhat forgiving her.

Bella padded through the short hallway, feeling her way to the living room in the pitch black. When a light finally appeared, it only dimmed the room, allowing her to see the shapes around her. On the sofa she saw Jake's chest rise and fall in a slow steady rhythm, deep asleep.

Bella's eyes filled with tears and she tip-toed into the the room, going to kneel beside him. She was sure to keep quiet, as she watched him sleep. A slight snore escaped his perfect pink lips, his brow furrowed, his eyes closed tightly.

Bella reached out, her fingers lightly running through his hair. "Sh," she murmured to him, hoping to soothe his dreams. She continued to run her fingers through his hair softly, until he began to slightly whisper her name. She froze, thinking she had awoken him, but when she looked down and saw his eyes still closed, she relaxed slightly. Bella leaned in closer to him, his breath hitting her face. She kissed his temple affectionately, whispering in return, "I'm here. I'm not going anywhere until you order me away. Things are going to be okay, Jacob."

After a few minutes of watching him sleep, Bella went back to Jake's room, closing the door behind her. She went to the bed, ready and willing to climb in and fall right asleep, but something stopped her. A faint memory slithered it's way into her memory.

When Bella and Jacob had been kids Bella had discovered a secret box under Jake's bed. They had been around fifteen then, and when Bella found it, she most definitely wasn't going to bring it up to him and harass him to know what was inside. Instead Bella had opened it while Jake had left the room, finding valuable belongings of his.

The first thing she had found was a broach. It was absolutely beautiful. Red, green, blue, and purple jewels wove and wrapped around each other, intertwined with silver. Bella had suspected it to be Jacob's mother's. It was the last thing he had of her.

Bella had been overjoyed at finding his few keepsakes, and continued to raid through them, but after looking through the entire box, she was disappointed that she wasn't represented in any of the items he had collected. Distraught and disappointed, Bella had put the box back under his bed, right where he had left it before Jacob walked back in the room.

Now, she wondered if he still kept a box under his bed. Curious, Bella knelt down on the right side of the bed, right where he had it years ago, she lifted the bed skirt and spotted a dark box against the wall. Eagerly Bella snatched it from it's place, dragging it out into the light. Slowly she lifted the lid revealing most of the same items she had when she was younger.

She sifted through photos and letters from girls and family members. When she got to the bottom of the box, a single picture lay facedown on the cardboard. Bella used her fingernails to get it, shocked to see what the photo was of. On the paper, Bella and Jacob stood in front of Billy's, they both smiled at the camera, their coats wrapped tightly around them. Bella's nose and ears were candy apple red from the cold, her hands shoved deep down in her pockets, a wool scarf around her neck, and a pair of boots on her feet, attempting to keep warm. Jacob was shown with a bright smile on his face, his one arm around Bella the other hanging loosely out of his pocket, he didn't seem cold at all.

Bella smiled remembering the kisses he had placed on her cheeks, making her giggle and blush. That had only been days before she had disappeared from Forks and everyone in it.

She smiled, tears in her big brown eyes. Bella sighed as she saw the writing at the bottom. In black sharpie, Jacob had written I miss you, the date below that.

"I missed you too," Bella whispered as a single tear fell from her eyes.

Bella placed everything back where it belonged, pushing the secret box back under the bed.

The next morning Bella awoke to the scent of blueberry pancakes and bacon. Her absolute favorite. She quickly got up and ran to the kitchen, finding a stack of pancakes and a plate of bacon set out on the table with two tall glasses of orange juice.

"Morning," Jake said, his tone reluctant, but happy to have her back in his life.

He glanced over at her, seeing her hair in a disarray on the top of her head, his clothing covering her body. The thought of him covering her body created a lump in his throat, which he pushed back by clearing his throat. He wanted her so badly it physically hurt him. He knew he had to win her heart once again.

Bella waltzed onto the tiled kitchen floor, her lip between her teeth. She saw he wore a crisp shirt and a pair of khaki's with what looked like a new pair of loafers.

"Good morning," Bella said quietly, testing his mood. She didn't want to be too happy at the result of his reaction the night before.

"Did you sleep all right?" he asked her.

"Shouldn't I be asking you that? You are the one that slept on the couch."

"I slept fine. It's not the first time I've slept on it."

"Either way, I should have been the one on it last night. Thank you for giving me your bed."

"Yeah, yeah," Jake shrugged. "I made your favorite."

"Yeah, the smell woke me up. Thank you."

He nodded and flipped another pancake, setting a plate already stacked with food. "Eat up."

Bella greedily took the plate, snatching the fork beside her, and devoured the first pancake. "So good," she mumbled through bites.

Jake chuckled slightly. "I'm glad you enjoy it."

Bella looked up at him. "I can't believe you remembered after all these years."

"Of course I do," he smirked. "I fixed it for you almost every morning."

Bella blushed slightly. "And every bite was better than the last."

He smiled slightly, not knowing how to proceed. He knew Bella like the back of his hand, if not better, but yet he couldn't bring himself to start an actual conversation. All Jacob could imagine was the leech's cold lips on her lips, her throat. It was too much to bare. "I have to go to work," Jake quickly excused himself, needing to leave before he let the anger control him.

"Wait Jake!" Bella exclaimed, in her mind Jacob was running away from her, that he wanted nothing to do with her anymore, but once the words had left her mouth, the front door slammed shut behind him.

Bella flopped back down on the stool, tears falling from her big brown eyes. Of course she knew things couldn't just go back to normal, not immediately anyway, but it seemed like Jacob didn't want to try, didn't want her. Bella then came to the conclusion that he merely saw her on the street, took her home, realized it was in fact her, and only expected to keep her for the night. Jacob didn't want her to stay, he just did what any gentleman would do, helping a woman in need.

Bella didn't let the tears slip, didn't let her lip quiver, didn't let her hand run through her hair, but instead got herself up and went back to his room to gather her things. Bella couldn't intrude on a man that had long left her behind.

Jacob strolled into the main lobby of his law firm, not exactly what he had pictured himself pursuing for a career, but somehow he had found himself going to Harvard and then moving to New York City. The decision hadn't been made by him, but the decision had decided him.

Good mornings were thrown back and forth between colleagues and himself, but his thoughts were locked upon Bella. Isabella Marie Swan, the woman he had loved ever since he was a toddler, throwing together mud pies, he accidentally eating a few as Bella laughed. If Renee hadn't taken Bella away from Forks, Bella would have been his from then until forever.

He ran a hand down his face, a slight growl erupting from his chest, as he fell back into his leather chair behind the massive desk that crowded his office. What would he do with her? It's not like he could throw her over his shoulder, give her a firm smack on the rear end, and expect her to do what she should. Jacob would have to have a real talk with Bella when he got back home, tell her how she killed him inside by not even saying goodbye, for saying she loved him and then taking off without a word for years.

He lifted an ink pen off his desk, twirling it through his fingers as he thought. Thinking of Bella drifted his thoughts to the pack. The pack. What had ever happened to the ferocious, vampire ass kicking, werewolves he knew when he was in high school? Were they still a pack without him?

Jacob made a mental note to ask his father next time they talked. Jake and Billy had become even more distant than before after he had left for college and Rebecca, his sister, had moved back in. Billy understood his son was very busy with work, and that Jacob would call if he needed to.

An image of Bella floated back through his train of thought, anger pulsing through him once again, his hands shaking. How could she just leave with a sparkling, dead, leech when she had not but minutes before told Jake she loved him?

How could she be so selfish not to even consider calling and just telling him the truth? Why had she left? Was Jacob not enough for her?

"Mr. Black?" a female voice chimed from the door with a dainty knock.

The sudden interruption startled him, causing the pen to slam down into the desk, half of it sticking out the top, ink covered his hand. "Shit," he mumbled, looking for something to wipe his hands off with.

"Oh, so sorry sir," the receptionist, Heather, apologized shakily.

"Yeah yeah," he replied almost angrily. "What do you want?"

"I wanted to tell you that your meeting with the board is in five minutes."

"I'll be there in a second," he spits as he shakes ink onto the floor, his eyebrows pulled together in annoyance.

Bella couldn't bare to part with the few items of clothing that belonged to Jake. She stuffed the clothes into her small purse that held only a few bills and her credit card. She knew where she had to go, what she had to do that she had been putting off for over five years. Bella was going back to Forks.

After arguments, raised voices, and flustered agreements, Jake finally got out of the meeting that kept him locked in a board room for hours, wasting almost the entire day from his grasp. He quickly went back into his office, grabbed his coat, and headed out the door.

"Mr. Black!" Heather called out, her heels clicking after him in a hurry.

Jake barely slowed down, ready to get home, talk to Bella, and try to make things work. His eyes watched as the sun slowly made it's way down through the sky. "Yes?" he asked.

"You still have a load of papers that need to be signed before you can leave! There are stacks piled high on my desk!"

"Before I can leave?" he chuckled. "Heather, I own this business, I may leave whenever I wish, and at this moment I wish to be home, so if you'll excuse me." Jake then climbed into a taxi that awaited him, leaving an aggravated assistant behind him.

The ride back to his condo took longer than normal, maybe because he was so anxious to hear more about the story then Bella had given. He quickly paid the cabbie and raced up the stairs and to Bella, throwing open the door maybe slightly too enthusiastically. "Bella?" he called out, expecting to see her laying on the couch watching a movie with a blanket around her shoulders, but he came home to empty rooms, no Bella in sight.

Confused and down, Jake went over to the counter to sit at the bar, hoping an answer would come to him as to her whereabouts. It was then that his hand brushed against a folded piece of paper, and a smooth paper. Jacob quickly turned in his seat, his hands eager to get a hold of whatever Bella had left him.

There was a folded note, a pen thrown down beside it. A sinking feeling came over him as he unfolded the notebook paper, dreading to read the words written there.

Jacob,

Thank you for letting me stay with you last night, you have no idea how much I appreciate it. You've given me a chance to open my eyes to what I've been running from for seven years and I can't wait to make things right with everyone. I needed this Jacob, and I hope someday you can eventually forgive me for the stupid mistake I made.

Forever in your debt,

Bella

She had gone from his life once again, but this time leaving a small word from her, thankfully though he had a slight idea to where she had gone. Jacob picked up the other small piece of paper, realizing it was a photograph. A closer look he noticed it was the picture Jacob kept under his bed in a box of he and Bella. Under the writing he had put there Bella had also written, I missed you too.


End file.
